I have a small coolant leak from the hose under the throttle body and I've ordered the part to replace.

I'm smelling coolant and wondered if it was from this small leak or would it be more likely from a bad head gasket? No white smoke, the resovoir did need topping back up but thought maybe thats from the leaky hose? Not sure what I'm looking for on a leaky head gasket. New wires and plugs installed about 8 months ago, no sign then of coolant then.

Prepare me, if it is in need of a new head gasket, what should I expect to pay a mechanic?

It's an 02 DII with 115,000 miles on it.

Thanks

 

your coolant loss is probably from the leaking throttle body heater gasket. A simple fix. As I recall there are three small bolts under the heater plate, remove the two hoses (be careful with the hoses, they are connected to some small hard lines that become very brittle over time) undo the bolts, remove the plate, clean off the gasket, put on the new one and put it all together. The bolts are a little tight to get to, I used a 1/4 inch socket set. Replace the throttle body heater plate gasket , top off the expansion tank, bleed the system and see how she does. Download the RAVE manual and read up a bit. A good engine cleaning is always a good summer job as well. Good luck. Phil

 

Have you replaced your radiator hoses with the new style? The bleed screw should be on the T connection, if it is in the hose on top of the radiator you have the old one and the screw will break on you. I ask this because i thought that i could get away with not replacing my hoses with the new setup and i ended up being stranded on the side of the freeway because the bleed screw shot out. They are about $80 from the stealership and AB has them for a bit less.